


All We Need

by failureisonlythestart (Celentinia)



Series: Zerhys Collection [1]
Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom, borderlands 2 - Fandom
Genre: AU (kinda?), Canon Divergence, Fluff, Other, Slow Burn (kinda), blushing nerds, both romantic and literal falling, cuddles too, ep5 spoilers, i'm not sure what else to tag, lots of fluff, mostly rhys, takes place right at the end of ep 5, there's a lot of falling, this ship seriously needs more content im screaming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 08:24:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5998720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celentinia/pseuds/failureisonlythestart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After both Rhys and Fiona vanish into the vault, Zer0 finds themselves worrying for the wellbeing of the pair. Against their better judgement, they chase after the adventurous duo. The task seemed easy enough at first, or so they'd thought. With one problem leading to another, Rhys and Zer0 find themselves growing closer and closer. Zer0 finds themselves battling not only the onslaught of enemies, but their conflicting emotions as well. Rhys? Well, he just tries his best to stay alive, and not fall head over heels for the assassin...though perhaps he's already failed that.</p><p>In which Rhys spends a lot of his time falling, both to his death, and into Zer0's arms. </p><p>(Takes place at the end of Episode 5, with a slight twist.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	All We Need

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sitting on this fic for a loooooooooooooong while now. I finished it ways back, but with midterms, exams, and culminating projects I never found the chance to finish editing it...until now. If there are any blatant mistakes please let me know!
> 
> Anyways, without further ado...

Loot rained down from the sky, showering the vault hunters in eridium, and hundreds of guns each varying in rarity. Zer0 watched as they were surrounded by fragments of the Traveller, while the others ran towards a few legendaries that gathered up ahead. Everyone was present, except for Rhys. Tilting their head, Zer0 scanned the battlefield for any sign of the skinny brunet, and found him racing towards the vault with Fiona. Zer0 felt a sense of dread fill their body, as they recalled what happened to Handsome Jack when _he_ entered the vault. It was always a risky ordeal to enter a vault, the last one they'd entered had the Warrior, and who knows what could lie within the Vault of the Traveller. Fearing the worst for their companions, Zer0 sprinted after the pair.  
  
Upon reaching the large arcing gate, Zer0 found themselves unable to enter, a transparent dome blocking the gate. Rhys and Fiona reached the entrance, taking a break to catch their breath before walking in together. With great distress, Zer0 slammed their fists against the dome-like structure, trying to get the duo's attention, to no avail. Zer0 watched as the two vanished into the vault, unaware of the potential dangers that lay beyond the gate. The rest of the group caught up to Zer0 at the vault entrance, finally noticing the absence of Fiona and Rhys.  
  
"Hey, Zer0! Where's Fiona?" asked Sasha, her hands full of guns, and pockets full of money.  
  
"I don't see Rhys either." said Vaughan curiously, setting his loot on the ground to look for his friend.  
  
Silently, Zer0 lifted a finger, and pointed towards the ethereal gate. With an incredulous look, Athena spoke up from behind Zer0, "You mean, they entered the vault?" When Zer0 nodded, she continued, "I'm not sure that it's a wise idea for just the two of them to enter, considering what happened to Handsome Jack when he entered."  
  
For the first time since the group had gathered around the gate, Zer0 spoke.  
  
"My thoughts exactly./It would be wise to contact/Patricia Tannis." Zer0 pulled out their ECHOcom, and dialled Dr. Tannis' radio frequency.  
  
"She's that scientist who lost her mind on Pandora, and knows a lot about vaults and Eridians, right?" asked Vaughn, trying his best to remember the familiar name.  
  
His question went unanswered, when Dr. Tannis' voice came ringing out of Zer0's ECHO device, "Hello? Zer0, is that you? I've received rather startling news that you went to open the Vault of the Traveller, is this true? That means you somehow managed to defeat the Traveller, a near impossible feat mind you, however, you did manage to slay the Warrior, and everyone thought _that_ was impossible--"  
  
"Tannis, that's enough," came Zer0's stern voice. Had they not cut her off, she was most likely going to ramble on forever. When Tannis finally stopped spitting out a hundred questions at once, Zer0 continued, "What do you know about the/Vault of the Traveller?"  
  
"Funny you ask that, I was just reading a book about it. I had to hire a Crimson Raider to find it for me, and he gave it to me covered in the guts and brains of the bandits he stole it from." she paused briefly, the shuffling of papers audible in the background.  
  
"Where did I put it now? Give me a moment...ah, here it is. Most of the pages in the book were ripped out, or the text was too distorted to read." mumbled Tannis, trying her best to organize the mess of sheets before her.  
  
"Get to the point, Tannis." Athena urged, at this rate they weren't going to get anything out of her.  
  
"Right. From what little we know about the Vault of the Traveller, I have concluded that there is nothing inside the vault." said Tannis, reading off of her research notes.  
  
"Nothing at all? Odd," mused Zer0.  
  
"Well, there is _something_. I'm not quite sure what it is though. It seems to be a teleporter of some sort, akin to the abilities of the Traveller.” continued Tannis, sounding rather unsure.  
  
"Where does it lead to, Tannis?/To another vault?" questioned Zer0.  
  
"I'm...not so sure about that either. Only one person can enter at a time, or multiple people if they enter at once. After that, the vault stays closed until the previous occupants have vacated the vault."  
  
"That explains the dome/Which prevents my entry. How/Infuriating," Zer0 sighed. As the words left their mouth, the invisible barrier that surrounded the vault entrance flickered, before vanishing completely.  
  
"Seems like the vault has opened once more... This leads me to believe Fiona and Rhys must've used the teleporter," explained Tannis. She continued, "I do feel like I'm forgetting something important, however..."  
  
"We cannot waste time./I must find Rhys before it's/Too late. Fi as well." Zer0 spoke calmly, taking a step towards the gate. They drew their sword, preparing for the worst.  
  
"Wait, I'm going with you," said Athena, reaching forwards to pull Zer0 back, but her hand was stopped short, hitting an invisible wall.  
  
"What? But they haven't even entered the vault yet! How is the weird dome thing back already?" cried Vaughn nervously, the lack of information on the strange vault making him anxious.  
  
"That's rather odd...the entrance shouldn't close until the next person has entered it, not simply approach it, gosh, I can't for the _life_ of me remember what I'm supposed to tell you about this vault..." Tannis trailed off, letting out the occasional scream of frustration.  
  
"Maybe there's someone still in there?" Springs speculated, "I mean, maybe only one of them went through, and the vault opened again because they thought it was empty?"  
  
"That sounds like a reasonable enough explanation for now. It seems like we're hanging on to mere speculations, and frankly, I’m not too fond of it. Remind me to send another one of you vault hunters to properly investigate this damn thing some time in the future..." muttered Tannis. The group shared nervous looks amongst themselves, before their gazes settled on Zer0, who now stood on the other side of the barrier.  
  
"I think you should go now. See if they really are okay. I would've liked to join you but," Athena motioned towards the invisible dome that stood between them, "I'm in no position to right now. I'll follow you in once this...barrier goes away."  
  
With a small nod, Zer0 stepped into the ethereal portal, enveloped in purple mist. Within a blink of an eye, they were gone.  
  
"Hey, I wonder if we'll ever find out what it is Tannis keeps forgetting to tell us." pondered Vaughn, creating a mental list of all the bad things it could be.  
  
"I'm sure it can't be that bad. I hope." commented Springs, trying to remain optimistic.  
  
"So uh, now what?" asked Sasha, "Do we just wait to see if they come back?"  
  
Athena shrugged, "We haven't got any other options,"  
  
\--  
  
"We've come this far together, I think it'd only be fair if we both opened it." offered Fiona, pulling her hand back slightly, to assure they would both open it at the same time.  
  
"I was hoping you would say that," smiled Rhys.  
  
The initial excitement finally wore down, as the two slowly reached out to the glowing structure before them. A wave of uncertainty flooded Rhys' body, as he felt a strange pressure in his head that only got worse, the closer his hand grew to the cube shaped object. He quickly withdrew his hand, turning to warn Fiona, but she'd already touched it. Too late.  
  
A bright light enveloped Fiona, and her eyes opened wide, filled with terror. She made an attempt to withdraw her hand, but it was cemented to the box.  
  
"Uh, Fiona? I have a really, really bad feeling about this!" cried Rhys, fear dripping from his words.  
  
"I can't let go, Rhys! I don't know what's--" Fiona was cut off when a bright, blinding light filled the vault. Rhys brought his hands up to his face instinctively, and upon lowering them, Fiona was gone. The platform beneath him shook violently, sending him tumbling off the edge. A scream tore itself from Rhys' voice, as he (tried, and failed to) mentally prepare himself for a harsh impact on the ground. Still screaming, Rhys was surprised to discover that his spine did not crash into the ground, but rather into a thin pair of arms.  
  
Hesitantly, Rhys opened one eye, and stared at the figure above him, trying to make out who it was. The person(?) was masked...wait. A bright red question mark flashed on their mask, as Rhys finally put two and two together.  
  
"Z-Zer0?!" Rhys stuttered, his face flushing a bright red, realizing how he was being held in the arms of his favourite vault hunter.

Zer0's faceplate lit up once more, this time displaying a smiley face emoticon, ":)".  
  
"You have quite the knack/For getting into trouble,/Don't you, Rhys-ie boy?" came Zer0's amused voice, as they glanced down at the brunet's flushed face. He looked a lot smaller in their arms, and twice as adorable, Zer0 thought.  
  
"I-um, yeah, ahaha, about that..." Rhys stammered, face flushing an even darker shade of red at the nickname.  
  
"Rhys? You are shaking./Are you alright? I do not/See her here either," observed Zer0, searching the vault for any sign of Fiona. Zer0 held the man closer, trying to still his shakes.  
  
Rhys smiled at that, appreciating the small gesture. Rhys felt his laboured breathing slow down, subconsciously snuggling into Zer0's chest. As much as he wanted to simply be held in their arms, he suspected the tall vault hunter wanted answers.  
  
"Fiona? She uh, disappeared. Where? I'm not entirely sure. We climbed up these stairs, to reach that weird cube thing at the top. Not the wisest idea, really." Rhys said, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to make sense of the previous events.  
  
"My head felt really weird when I tried to touch it, like my head was being crushed in a vice. I tried to warn Fiona, but I was too late. One second she was there, the next, poof!" Rhys waved his hands in the air goofily, earning a chuckle from Zer0. Hearing their laugh, Rhys felt warmth spread through his body, butterflies filling his stomach.  
  
"We should go after/Her. She might be in danger./Can you walk yet, Rhys?" asked Zer0, with a hint of concern.  
  
Rhys slowly nodded his head. Zer0 hesitated momentarily, before gently placing the small brunet on the ground, preparing to catch him, should he stumble. And fall he did, right back into Zer0's arms.  
  
"Geez, my head is killing me." Rhys mumbled, bringing his hand to his head in a petty attempt to still the spinning world around him. A wave of nausea swept through Rhys' body, making him feel utterly terrible.  
  
"I must've gotten up too fast, head rush, and all that." said Rhys as confidently as he could, his sickly expression however, gave it all away.  
  
"Perhaps you aren't fit/To walk yet. I can carry/You, if you want, Rhys." Zer0 offered, worried that the company man would throw up if he tried to move any further.  
  
"I'm fine, I just need a moment," Rhys muttered, shaking his head. A bad idea, he very quickly discovered. Whatever touching that thing did to him, it was no good. Shaking his head only caused the spinning to get worse, and he would've fallen over, if not for the lanky (yet surprisingly strong) pair of arms that supported his weight.  
  
Accepting defeat, Rhys allowed himself to be swept off his feet, and into the comfortable nest of Zer0's arms, and torso. Rhys did not want to appear weak in Zer0's eyes (if they even have any, thought Rhys), though the vault hunter did not seem to mind, and neither did Rhys. Being held like this gave him a sense of security, and warmth, the waves of nausea suddenly slowing their onslaught on Rhys' body. The migraine still persisted however, and whilst trying to chase it away, Rhys buried his face into the crook of Zer0's neck.  
  
"This is nice, I like this. Have I told you that?" Rhys asked, very quietly. He felt a little loopy, and perhaps was not thinking to the best of his ability--his brain to mouth filter suffering as well. Peering up at the tall assassin, he continued, voice barely above a whisper, "Thanks for saving my clumsy ass back there, I appreciate it."  
  
Zer0 nodded, and flashed a "<3" emoticon, causing Rhys to smile affectionately, a slight blush creeping up his face once more.  
  
"It might be safer/To leave you with the others," Zer0 started, turning back to face the entrance. They did not want Rhys' condition to get any worse.  
  
Furiously shaking his head, Rhys protested, "No, I'm fine, I swear! I'm curious to see where the teleporter thing takes us.”  
  
"If you insist, Rhys." Zer0 finished, smiling faintly at the brunet's desire to stay with them.  
  
Taking extra caution to not drop the fragile human in their arms, Zer0 slowly made their way back to the top of the vault. Standing before the enigmatic cube, Zer0 started to experience the odd pressure Rhys had mentioned earlier. A side effect of coming within close proximity of the artifact, they assumed. Glancing down at the brunet, Zer0's mask lit up, painted with a question mark "?", asking if Rhys was ready for round two. Rhys felt his heart squeeze at that, the assassin showing such care and concern towards him making him blush all over again. Rhys nodded rather weakly, to avoid upsetting his head any further.  
  
The structure pulsated with energy, purple and white wisps of light surrounding it. The lights were twice as bright, Rhys noticed, wondering if it meant anything significant. Zer0 did not hesitate in reaching out to the artifact, to assure the side effects would not last for too long. The two found themselves enveloped in light, similar to Fiona, the pressure in their heads now stronger than ever. Rhys was trembling now, still trying to recover from his previous ailments, only to experience them all over again. Zer0 felt a pang of guilt, perhaps they should've let Rhys stay behind. Zer0 pulled Rhys in closer to their chest, running their hand up the ex-Hyperion employee's back, attempting to soothe the trembling man.  
  
The sensation was over within the blink of an eye, disappearing as fast as it came. The only thing Rhys managed to comprehend through his dazed thoughts, was that he was falling. Again.  
  
\--  
  
"It's been over ten minutes now, where the hell are they?" asked Sasha, the nerves finally getting to her. She lifted her gun, preparing to blast the dome to bits, should the situation call for it.  
  
"The vault has been closed the entire time, there's no use to do anything but wait for them to come back out." warned Athena, placing her hand on Sasha’s gun, slowly lowering it.  
  
The ground around the vault began to rumble violently, knocking the majority of the group off their feet, except Athena, who stood her ground. The purple gate surrounded itself in trails of mist, before vanishing in a bright flash of light, momentarily blinding the group. Recovering from her temporary daze, Athena stared blankly at the empty expanse of land before her. The  vault had disappeared right before their eyes.  
  
"What. The. _Hell_. Just happened, Tannis?" Athena roared into her ECHOcom. Upon Zer0's departure, Athena dialled the scientist, to try and pry more information from her.  
  
Tannis emitted a loud gasp, "So that's what I forgot to tell you!"  
  
"Of all things you forgot to mention,  how could you forget the fact that the vault itself _teleports_?!" growled Athena, her vice like grip threatening to crush the ECHO device. Tannis was silent, and for once, Athena wished otherwise. Letting out a scream of frustration, she threatened to smash the ECHO device, but was stopped by her girlfriend.  
  
"Honey, that's enough. Perhaps we should head back to Sanctuary. I'm sure Zer0 would bring the two back there, anyway." Springs reasoned, placing a comforting hand over her fiancée's hand, allowing Athena's grip to slightly relax. She smiled reassuringly, and Athena returned with a faint smile of her own.  
  
"Should we head back now?" asked Vaughan, "Who knows how long it'll take them to get back..."  
  
As the group made their way towards the vehicles, Sasha gave the area one last look, as if the vault would come back by sheer force of will. Noticing her concern, Springs placed a comforting arm on Sasha's shoulder, "They'll be back in no time. Zer0 is quite the badass, after all."  
  
\--  
  
Falling. They were falling. Zer0's instincts finally kicked in, Rhys' screams of terror snapping them out of their nausea induced haze. Zer0 scanned their surroundings, searching for anything that could stop their rapid descent towards the ground below. They spotted a slow moving platform, and reached out to grab it. Rhys opened his eyes when their drop was stopped short. Zer0 barely managed to grab the platform in time, leaving the two dangling in the air. Rhys' eyes widened, impressed by the assassin's swift reflexes. Rhys decided it was best to not question how they'd managed to grab hold of the ledge, and still be able to cradle him safely in their arm.  
  
Struggling to properly support the combined weight of Rhys and themselves, Zer0 shakily pulled the two of them up, and onto the stable platform. Though previously slow moving, the platform began to swiftly descend, being pushed down by Rhys and Zer0's weight. The platform itself was rather small, Rhys discovered, having to sit in Zer0's lap in order to fit. He wasn't simply sitting in their lap, however, Rhys' legs were pinned to the sides of Zer0's thighs. He was _straddling_ the lean assassin. The two had reached a similar conclusion at the same time, and if Rhys was not sitting on a floating platform 2000ft in the air, he would've scrambled away in embarrassment.  
  
Instead, Rhys turned away, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing again, much to Zer0's amusement. The kid blushed too much for his own good, Zer0 chuckled. Not that they minded, it was an attractive combination for the younger male, flushed and embarrassed...Zer0 let that thought trail off.  
  
Projecting a kiss emoticon ":*", Zer0 said bemusedly, "Why hello there, Rhys./I did not know you were in/to this kind of thing."  
  
Sure, he thought about it in a dream or two, but Rhys didn't dare to tell the vault hunter that. Instead, Rhys made an embarrassed noise, struggling to come up with a decent response, "Well it's not my fault I so happen to fit perfectly in your lap,"  
  
Zer0 chuckled breathily, leaning in close to the brunet's ear, "Is that so, Rhys? There/Will be plenty of time to/Fool around later.". Zer0 allowed their hands to roam up Rhys' sides, earning them a soft sigh from the brunet.  
  
Rhys shivered at the touch, and let out a startled yelp when the platform had finally reached the bottom. Great, he'd never once imagined that he would be cock blocked by Eridian structures. Zer0 reluctantly peeled themselves off of Rhys, reverting their focus back to the task at hand. Rhys pouted at the sudden loss of contact, hoping the assassin would not notice. Zer0 projected a question mark "?" wondering what they'd done wrong. Rhys shoved his slight disappointment into the back of his mind, and simply smiled back.  
  
Deciding not to press any further, Zer0 asked, "Feeling better yet?"  
  
Surprisingly, Rhys found himself nodding. His killer migraine vanished once they'd finished teleporting. Perhaps it was only a side effect of him withdrawing his hand too early, Rhys concluded.  
  
Zer0 extended their hand, and when Rhys grabbed onto it, he was pulled up with a surprising amount of strength. Rhys was confused when Zer0 did not let go right away (not that he really cared), and raised his eyebrow. The assassin reached into their gun holster, and pulled out what Rhys believed to be a Jakobs pistol. It had a long black barrel with pink accents, the body painted with the same shade of pink. Rhys did not recognize it, but he was sure Sasha would've, the girl is quite the gun whiz, after all.  
  
"This should protect you./It has quite a large recoil/You can handle it." Zer0 said, confident in Rhys' abilities. They gently placed the gun in Rhys' hand, before finally letting their hand fall away.  
  
Upon further examination, Rhys found that he did indeed recognize the gun, and let out a small gasp of surprise, "This is the legendary Maggie, isn't it? How did you get your hands on this?"  
  
Rhys gave Zer0 an utter look of awe, his ECHOeye glowing a bright gold. He felt as if Zer0 granting him their extremely rare gun was a blessing. Zer0 simply flashed a winking face ";)" in response.  
  
"Care to take a shot?/Try aiming for that over there," Zer0 motioned towards a blue glowing ornament on the wall. Rhys gave them a short  nod, and assumed his "ready position".  
  
Zer0 let out a displeased sigh, Rhys' posture was too stiff, both his knees and elbows were locked, and his grip on the gun was sloppy at best. The poor kid has probably never held a gun in his life, Zer0 thought amusedly. They were slight mistakes that could be easily rectified, thankfully so. Zer0 sidestepped the brunet, and positioned themselves so that they were standing behind the business man. Rhys jumped slightly, not expecting the vault hunter to appear behind him so suddenly.  
  
"Relax your elbows," Zer0 pulled Rhys' arms back, forcing his elbows to relax ever so slightly. When Rhys did as he was told, Zer0 moved onto correcting the next mistake.  
  
"Do not lock your knees either," came the assassin's smooth voice. God, Rhys could listen to their voice all day, however the vault hunter was waiting for him to follow instructions, and so follow them he did.  
  
"Hold the gun like this," instructed Zer0, their fingers fiddled with Rhys' improper grip, until his fingers were in the optimal position for minimizing the recoil. It was only now that Rhys noticed how close he was to the tall vault hunter, relishing in the physical touch. Now that he assumed the proper stance, Zer0 gave Rhys a small nod.  
  
"Go ahead, shoot it." said Zer0 reassuringly. Rhys took a deep breath, and willed himself to stay steady as the lined up his shot. Pulling the trigger was more difficult than he anticipated. Upon successfully squeezing the trigger, a tight spread of six bullets sped towards the bright blue ornament, shattering it instantly.  
  
"Excellent job, Rhys. You did/Well on your first try." praised Zer0, impressed with how well he'd held his ground, despite the rather strong kick of the gun.  
  
"Thanks! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." said Rhys triumphantly, feeling his heart flutter at the praise. Zer0 ruffled Rhys' hair, sending a wave of comfort from his head to his toes. He liked that. He really, _really_ liked that, the approval from vault hunter making him smile.    
  
"We should get going/She could be in trouble if/We do not hurry." stated Zer0, as they stared down the long, winding hall before them. Best to find out what lay at the end of it, before it's too late. Zer0 extended out their hand to Rhys, waiting for him to grab hold of it. You can never be too sure, Zer0 reasoned with themselves.  
  
The small gesture tugged on Rhys' heartstrings, and he found himself smiling goofily as he grabbed onto the assassin's slender hand. Sword in one hand, Rhys' hand in the other, the pair began their journey to find Fiona, wherever she may be.  
  
\--  
  
"Arrgh!" Sasha banged her head on the table, crying out in frustration, "How are they still not back yet?!"  
  
"What's the matter, Sugar? Care to wash down the anger with some rakk ale?" Moxxi offered, counting the various tips she'd received during the day.  
  
"My sister and her stupid friend decided it would be a great idea to just walk into a vault we know nothing about!" said Sasha sarcastically, throwing her arms in the air. She regretted that motion shortly after, wincing as a sharp pain jolted through her left arm.  
  
"Careful there, Sash, don't want to make that arm any more worse than it already is." Moxxi warned gently, trying to calm the young woman down.  
  
"I'm fine, really," grumbled Sasha, rubbing slow circles into her arm, slightly soothing the pain. She'd broken her arm when she fell previously, however, the health hypo Dr. Zed gave her was mending the shattered bone faster than it would've on its own. "'Give it an extra hour or two, and it'll be good as new’ my ass." Sasha thought.  
  
Tired of simply waiting around, Sasha hopped off the barstool she was perched upon, and made her way towards the exit, when Moxxi called after her, "Where do you think you're going, dear?"  
  
"I'm going to find my sister." replied Sasha, a determined glint in her eyes.  
  
"Alright, but don't get yourself into a sticky situation, okay sugar?" Moxxi called after her. Kids these days, she sighed.  
  
Sasha stealthily slipped past the sleeping guard that stood in front of the Crimson Raiders’ HQ door, and scanned the room for any sign of the weird Tannis lady that Athena and Zer0 spoke to earlier. The room was devoid of any such lady, Sasha noticed, and hesitantly took a step forward.  
  
"You must be Sasha. Athena mentioned that you are the sister of  Fiona, the one who'd entered the vault." Tannis commented, popping out from beneath her desk.  
  
Sasha let out a startled yelp, surprised by the sudden appearance of the odd woman. Sasha waited for her heart to calm down, before clearing her throat, "If I were to ask you to track down that vault, would you be able to do it?"  
  
"The question is not whether I _can_ do it, but rather it should be whether or not I _want_ to," countered Dr. Tannis, crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
"Please, you have to help me," Sasha pleaded, clasping her hands together, "I just re-united with her, I can't afford to lose her again."  
  
Dr. Tannis narrowed her eyes, glaring at the ex-con artist, before sighing and dropping her arms.  
  
"Fine, but only if you promise to look for an ancient Eridian artifact that is rumoured to be held by...whatever it is that lies at the end of the vault." Tannis proposed.  
  
"What's it look like?" Sasha inquired. The scientist would not tell her the current location of the vault, not unless Sasha convinced her that she would fulfill her end of the bargain.  
  
"You'll know it when you see it. I've updated your ECHO to have the coordinates," Sasha blinked, surprised at how easy it was to convince the Eridian expert, "off you go now, before I change my mind.” said Tannis, shooing Sasha away with her hands.  
  
"Thanks, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for it," Sasha waved goodbye to the Eridian researcher, and slipped out of the Crimson Raiders' HQ, leaving no trace of her presence behind.  
  
\--  
  
The two must've been walking for what Rhys believed to be an eternity, their footsteps filling the silence. Walking down the long the hallway, Rhys took a moment to take in the wondrous sight before his eyes. Strange as it may be, Eridian architecture was truly a sight to marvel at. The entire corridor was illuminated with a faint purple glow, the hexagonal tiles that littered the floor and ceiling were a brilliant white. Scattered all across the floor, were peculiar looking pods, peeking out of the cracks in the ground. Rhys hoped that they were purely aesthetic decorations.  
  
There was the occasional grey crystal pillar, that floated aimlessly within the hall. The left wall shared a similar geometric pattern like the floor, and ceiling. The right side however, was slightly translucent, similar to that of fogged glass. Through the glass, he could see strange symbols, made up of squiggly lines, and dots. An Eridian language of some sort, Rhys assumed.  
  
"Hey Zer0, so you've been to a lot of vaults, right?" asked Rhys, breaking the silence.  
  
"Yes, why?" returned Zer0.  
  
"I was wondering if you knew what any of those symbols meant," said Rhys, using his free hand to point at the odd characters, plastered on the adjacent wall.  
  
Zer0's face plate lit up, with an ellipses displayed on the front. They were probably trying to think, Rhys assumed, and waited patiently for an answer. Zer0 began to speak, but was cut off by the limp form of Fiona's body being thrown by a deformed creature, followed by a loud cry for help. The ellipses on Zer0's mask quickly morphed into an exclamation mark, as they tugged on Rhys' hand, urging him to keep up with them as they sprinted towards the end of the hall.  
  
"Was that Fiona? That was Fiona wasn't it? Oh god I hope she's okay." Rhys panicked, already running through his mental list of all the horrible things that might happen to Fiona.  
  
"Stay calm Rhys, she will/Be fine. I will not let you/Get hurt, I promise." Zer0 soothed, squeezing Rhys' hand reassuringly.  
  
"Right, yeah, okay. Trust the vault hunter who is a million times more experienced than I am." Rhys nodded to himself, his nerves slightly unbundling themselves at the assassin's reassuring words. A series of loud popping sounds echoed throughout the hall. Rhys looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening when he saw what lay behind him. The pods that were buried in the ground were all opening at once, a mass of Eridian guardians erupting from within. A massive swarm of large, alien like creatures buzzed towards the pair, staves pulsating with energy.  
  
"Uh, Zer0? There's kind of an angry swarm of these flying alien _things_ following us?" cried Rhys exasperatedly, willing his legs to move faster.  
  
"Best to hurry then," Zer0 replied calmly. Rhys was unsure as to how the assassin managed to keep their composure, even in a situation like this. Regardless, he was thankful for it. Lord knows he’d be dead if it weren't for the help of the tall vault hunter. Up ahead, Fiona struggled against the strong grip of the Eridian alien, as it hauled her into the connecting room.  
  
"Let go of me, you bastard!" roared Fiona, trying to wrench herself free from the grasps of the monster. Fiona cried out in pain, as the guardian dug their fingers roughly into her sides. The Eridian emitted a series of garbled noises, trying to communicate a message to her. Whatever they'd said clearly grabbed the assassin's attention, who sprinted as hard as they could, reaching out to try and pull her back, but was unable to close the gap in time. The sounds of Fiona's distress trailed off, as the entrance to the inner core of the vault slid shut.  
  
"Damnit, we're too slow." cursed the assassin. They did not have much time to dwell on their miscalculation, instead refocusing their attention on the bigger task at hand.  
  
"How exactly are we going to deal with these murderous looking aliens?" asked Rhys shakily. Sure, he had the odd run in with a few bandits here and there, but vault Guardians? Never in his life. The only time he'd heard of them was from Pandoran legends.  
  
"Stay here, do not move/I will take care of them. Use/The gun if needed," Zer0 instructed, voice steady as ever. The vault hunter gave Rhys' hand one last reassuring squeeze, before letting go. Rhys already missed their hand being there.  
  
Sword lifted up high, Zer0 threw out their Decpti0n clone, successfully drawing the Eridians' attention away from the company man. Rhys lost track of them shortly after, their invisible cloak leaving only the faintest of reflections behind. They were not gone for long, however, briefly reappearing behind the enemy, and with a quick sweep of their hand, the guardian lay on the ground, split into two. Within the next blink of the eye, they were gone again, their clone now standing in place of the would-be Eridian.

A true assassin indeed, Rhys watched in awe as they swept across the battlefield, laying waste with every movement of their skilled hand. Rhys stared at every movement the vault hunter made, admiring the way the assassin's body moved, his eyes wandering south, now paying attention to the vault hunter's ass. Rhys turned bright red when he realized what he was doing, quickly reverting his attention to the way they fought. The way they moved after each enemy was almost graceful, in a brutal way. However, for each guardian they sliced apart, twice as many came flooding into the room. There were far too many for even Zer0 to handle alone. He had to help, the businessman owed the assassin that much.  
  
"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" muttered Rhys under his breath, as he slowly withdrew his stun baton, careful to not draw the enemy's attention just yet. He planned on staggering them with his stun baton, hopefully giving him enough time to line up a shot.  
  
\--  
  
Sasha stepped on the brakes of her newly digistructed caravan, easing towards the edge of the cliff. At the bottom of the vast ravine lay the entrance to the vault. It didn't take her too long to navigate the deserted area, spotting the glowing gate easily amongst the empty expanses of nothing but sand. Climbing out of her vehicle, Sasha made sure she had everything on her. Her Maliwan SMG, and the brand new Tediore pistol she'd looted from the Traveller were safely secured to their respective holsters. Sasha tiptoed toward the cliffside, taking extra caution to not trip. She steadily slid down the side of the ravine, thankful that it wasn't extremely steep.  
  
Sasha briefly hesitated before the gate, the ominous feeling of it all unsettled her. There was so little known about the Vault of the Traveller, and yet here she was, about to step into the unknown. Sasha took a deep breath, and braced herself for what was to come.  
  
"I'm coming Fi, just hang on for a bit more." said Sasha as confidently as she could, and pushed herself through the gate. Her eyes shut briefly, blinded by the sudden flash of light. When her eyes reopened, she was standing at the bottom of a large, floating staircase. The interior of the vault shared a similar design scheme to the "heart" of the Traveller.  
  
"Whoa," mumbled Sasha, clearly impressed by the grandeur of the vault. She steadily made her way up the stairs, and stood silently before the beacon of light, a strange box at the bottom of it. This was the "teleporter" that Tannis mentioned, assumed Sasha. She reached out to touch the artifact, her head beginning to squeeze. She shrugged off the strange sensation, determined to save her sister from her demise. The artifact was oddly warm, despite having a smooth, metal exterior. The beacon of light swooped down, enveloping Sasha's  body. Panic swept through her body, as she felt her fingers disappear, unable to feel them. The odd sensation showed no signs of stopping, spreading to each and every limb, until Sasha was unable to feel anything at all.  
  
Sasha ebbed in and out of consciousness, struggling to gather her thoughts. Her head felt like she stuck it in the grinder.  
  
"Oh god, I hope I never have to do that again." whined Sasha, grabbing at her head, as if it would help ease the pain. She didn't even have time to register her surroundings, before an ear piercing scream filled the air.  
  
"Fiona?" Sasha's head snapped up. Ignoring her body's screams of protest, Sasha shakily stood up, knees threatening to buckle under her weight. Through the translucent glass below, Sasha could see Fiona's body fly past, followed closely by a large Guardian. It was larger than the ones she saw in the Traveller's heart, its body resembling that of a woman in a wedding dress, more than a humanoid insect.  
  
"Fiona!" cried Sasha, sprinting towards the end of the desolate corridor. Sasha ran down the hall, thankful that there was nothing to stop her. Upon reaching the end, the floor beneath her swung open like a trapdoor, sending Sasha tumbling below.  
  
\--  
  
"Hey, alien scumbags, over here!" Rhys beckoned, waving his arms in the air to try and draw some attention away from the assassin. A group of five Guardians turned to face the company man, all equally deadly looking. Rhys gulped loudly, trying his best to recall the things he learned in the self defense course he took on Helios. A pair of flying Guardians swooped down on opposite sides of Rhys, with their claws extended. Rhys let out a startled yelp, and tumbled out of the way. The two (slightly foolish) Guardians slammed into each other  with full force, leaving them dazed as they tried to regain their balance. Rhys took this time to draw his gun, and readied himself to take a shot.

Squeezing the trigger as hard as he could, the pistol shot out a shotgun-like spread, neatly embedding itself into the head the Guardian he aimed at. The flying guardian dropped like a fly, the other starting to shake out of its momentary daze. Rhys hesitated slightly with his second shot, forgetting to relax his elbows, the recoil from the pistol causing him to miss the head. Most of the bullets hit the flying Eridian's torso, inflicting little to no damage, as it was protected by a layer of hardened armour. The Eridian hurled itself at Rhys once more, this time with twice as much vigour.  
  
"Whoa!" Rhys cried, narrowly dodging the claws of his attacker. Rhys underestimated the length of the Guardians claws, the tip of them snagging his jacket. They were sharp enough to tear through the designer fabric, grazing his flesh ever so slightly. Normally, such a small cut wouldn't hurt this much. The claws of these particular Guardians were coated in a poison, that would amplify the pain, and causes hallucinations varying in severity, which Rhys discovered the hard way. He cried out in pain, quickly drawing the attention of the assassin.  
  
"Rhys!" called the assassin. They were unable to help Rhys, as a badass Guardian tackled them into the ground. The assassin cursed, and was forced to deal with the horrendously large Eridian that stood before themselves and Rhys. If they kept this up for any longer, they would run out of ammo. Still, they pushed on. Zer0 would never forgive themselves if they let Rhys get any more hurt than he already was. The assassin fought with renewed energy, driven by their need to help Rhys.  
  
"What the hell kind of poison is that?" Rhys asked with gritted teeth, "God, this hurts so much."  
  
Seeing how the vault hunter refused to give up, Rhys too, held his head up high. The poison made his vision all swimmy, causing him to see double of everything, his vision blurring at the edges. Grunting in pain, Rhys aimed the gun with his "robot arm", as Vaughn had so lovingly dubbed it. Aiming down the sights proved to be a difficult task, especially when there seemed to be twice as many things in front of him.  
  
Rhys struggled to concentrate on the Guardian's critical spot, before deciding it was pointless to try and make sense of the hallucinations, and pulled the trigger. By either pure luck, or skill, a majority of the bullets sped towards the Guardian's head, killing it instantly. Rhys had very little time to relish in his victory, immediately being charged at by another Guardian. It lacked wings like the previous ones, but was twice as fast, and carried large staves. With a small flick of his wrist, the segments of his stun baton shot outwards, stopping upon reaching its full length. Rhys pushed the small button at the hilt of the baton, and the tip of the lit up instantaneously, sparks flying everywhere.  
  
The Guardian suddenly halted in tracks, and stood motionless in front of him. The colours on the Eridian's body shifted from purple and white, to black and grey, with red accents. Rhys gripped his baton tightly, and slowly approached the Eridian, bringing his arm above his head. With all this might, Rhys swung the baton downward. Instead of connecting with the Guardian's head, it went straight through it. The Guardian's form flickered, before vanishing into thin air.  
  
"Wait, what? Where the hell did it--" Rhys exclaimed, flabbergasted at the Eridian's spontaneous disappearance. Unbeknownst to Rhys, the Guardian had appeared behind him, and moved to take advantage of Rhys' distractedness. He heard something dash toward him, barely turning in time to face it. His eyes widened, slowly piecing together the information. This particular Guardian was able to mimic abilities, and chose to mimic Zer0's Decepti0n. This time around, Rhys' reflexes were not fast enough, and was tackled to the floor by the swift Eridian.  
  
The Guardian lifted up its staff, preparing to impale the brunet with the sharper end. Right as the staff was going to piece through Rhys' body, a bullet whizzed towards the fleshy part between the shoulder, and chest plate. The creature let out a strangled noise, and relented in their attack.  
  
"I've got you, Rhys, go!" shouted the assassin from across the room, Vladof pistol in hand. The entire lower body of the badass Guardian was armoured, making it difficult for Zer0 to properly utilize their sword, opting for their guns instead. Rhys took advantage of the opening Zer0 provided him with, and kicked the Guardian off of his body. The Eridian fell over, and snarled out in pain. They recovered quickly, and was back on their feet in a matter of seconds, ready to charge at Rhys once more.

Rhys was faster however, and readied himself to shoot the rapidly approaching Guardian. Rhys fired the gun, stopping the Eridian short, as it fell over in front of him. The grey, black, and red colours melted off of the Eridian, now lying colourless on the ground. _Gross,_ Rhys thought silently, lowering his gun. There was only one more left for him to deal with, and he decided it would be alright if he took a moment to catch his breath, and gather his bearings.  
  
A foolish idea, of course, the last Guardian swept their staff at Rhys' legs, knocking him off of his feet. The gun slipped from Rhys' grip, and when he made to reach for it, the Guardian kicked it away, leaving Rhys defenseless with only his stun baton. Rhys scrambled back onto his feet, not wanting to give the Eridian the upper hand.

  
"Don't fail me now stun baton," Rhys prayed, mimicking Zer0's ready stance when using a sword. The Guardian rushed at him, but Rhys was able to parry the attack with ease, sending the Guardian skidding backwards. Rhys jabbed his baton into the unarmored parts of the Eridian, sending jolts of electricity through its body. The Guardian screeched, and impulsively thrusted the staff forward, knocking the wind out of Rhys.  
  
He keeled over in response, grabbing his stomach in pain. The blow must have broke a rib or two, as it now hurt to breathe. The Guardian lifted their staff above their head, slamming it into the ground, sending shockwaves through the floor. Already off balance as is, the shockwaves left Rhys sprawled on the floor. It hurt to try and get up, his injured ribs making it painful to move his entire upper torso.

He had to figure something out, and quickly, or he was sure to die. Rhys threw his baton aside, needing all of his strength to accomplish what he had in mind. The Guardian swung at Rhys, aiming for his head. Rhys reacted instantly, stopping the staff inches before his face. His elbows threatened to buckle, as Rhys put all of his strength into dragging the Guardian onto the ground with him.  
  
The creature fell toward Rhys, and as they were falling, Rhys used his grip on the Guardian's staff to flip them onto their back. Now on top of the Eridian, Rhys yanked the staff from their vice-like grip, stumbling backward. Using the staff to support his body, Rhys shakily stood up, grunting in pain. The creature attempted to stand back up, but Rhys firmly planted his foot on their armoured chest, preventing them from moving.

They squirmed around, trying to shake themselves free. Rhys took a deep breath, and lifted the staff as high as his arms could reach, the sharper end pointed at the chest of the Eridian. The Eridian's eyes lit up with a brilliant purple, the markings along their body glowing equally bright. A sudden pain surged through his shoulder, the hallucinations hitting him harder than the last time. Rhys blanked out as a result, the past five seconds were difficult to make out in Rhys' jumbled thoughts.  
  
"Rhys, do something, now!" shouted Zer0, noticing how the Guardian Rhys had pinned was about to break free.  
  
The assassin's voice cut through the haze of Rhys' mind, snapping him out of his daze. He was standing atop a Guardian who would take his life if he didn't take theirs first, Rhys vaguely recalled. The confusion was still there, but hearing Zer0's voice was enough to temporarily bring him back to reality. He shut his eyes, not wanting to see the staff puncture the Eridian. With a loud cry, Rhys neatly drove the staff into the Guardian's chest, fracturing their chest plate, before piercing the flesh underneath. The Eridian let out a variety of garbled noises, before finally stilling its movements. Rhys stumbled backwards, not wanting to be any closer to the corpse of the Guardian than he needed too.  
  
"Gross, gross, gross," Rhys muttered queasily, as he turned his attention to assisting Zer0 with the badass Guardian and its several minions. He did not know much about Eridians, let alone the combat patterns of the different subsets of Guardians. Rhys' face lit up, remembering that he has an ECHOeye that is wired to Atlas' entire database, including the info stockade. There's bound to be something useful there, thought Rhys, as his ECHOeye turned on, glowing a bright golden colour. His eye instantly highlighted all the hostiles within eyesight, and pulled up info on the Guardian's strengths and weakness with ease.  
  
Rhys noticed that Zer0's attacks damaged the Guardian, but they were unable to deal enough damage to counter its rapid regeneration, its minions possessing similar abilities. Their regenerative power appeared to be connected to the badass through a faint tether. Though easy to sever, it would relink itself too fast for Zer0 to do anything alone. They have two options, eliminate all the minions, leaving the badass defenseless, or slay the badass, getting rid of the minions' ability to regenerate.

The Guardian drew most of its strength from sustaining their minions, allowing them to attack non stop. Without them, the Guardian would be defenseless. Plan A it is then, Rhys decided. As a whole, they were prone to a slag and fire combo, the info would prove to be helpful when attempting to defeat the badass Guardian.  
  
"Zer0! I've got a plan!"  
  
\--  
  
Sasha let out a startled yelp, hurrying to reorient herself before she hit the ground. Sasha noted that several crystalline shards floated throughout the drop. The next one rapidly approaching, Sasha reached out to the pillar, barely reaching it in time. She was dangling on it by her fingertips, that slowly slipped the longer she held on. Looking around, she saw a  ledge although small, should be large enough to hold her.

Sasha swung her legs, slowly gaining momentum. Using the speed she gained, Sasha propelled herself forward, landing neatly landing on the little ledge. Down below she could see Fiona wrench herself free from the grasps of the peculiar looking Guardian. A slew of smaller pod-like creatures bursted out of the Guardian's stomach, circling around the central creature. Fiona was soon to be overwhelmed if she did not hurry.  
  
"I'm coming Fiona!" Sasha called out to her sister, swiftly navigating her way down. The rest of the climb was relatively easy, the jagged bottom of the chasm she fell through giving her plenty of things to grab hold of.  
  
"Sasha? Is that you?" Fiona asked, shooting the Guardian's child out of the air. The Opha slammed their staff into the ground, and pointed their finger at Fiona's head. The mass of Putti zipped towards the con-artist, surrounding her immediately.  
  
Sasha leapt off of the last ledge, landing gracefully on both feet. Sasha did not hesitate in readying her gun, unloading an entire clip into the swarm that engulfed her sister, a steady stream of incendiary bullets flying towards them. The Putti dropped like flies, leaving an opening for Fiona to escape. Fiona's eyes widened at the sight of her sister, and rushed to join Sasha's side.  
  
"Sasha? Why're you--how?!" Fiona asked incredulously. She was happy to see her sister of course, what confused her was how exactly she'd gotten here. Everything from the entry of the vault onwards was a large blur, a pain filled one at that.  Fiona wasn't in the best position to be asking questions, but she _had_ to know. If Sasha knew how to get here, hopefully she also knows how to get out.  
  
The Opha Superior growled in annoyance, their stomach peeling itself back open. Instead of a steady stream of Putti coming out, the Opha reached in, and withdrew a pair of Putti, one in each hand. The Opha threw them into the air, before repeating the process again. The pod segment of the Putti extended outwards, legs and arms growing from the elongated body. After a disturbing transformation, the Putti were full fledged Guardians. Soon enough, the inner core of the vault was filled with Guardians and Putti alike, on top of an Opha Superior who spawned them without breaking a sweat. With a point of their finger, the army they'd grown flew towards the two sisters. Sasha quickly reloaded her SMG, and aimed her gun at the onslaught of enemies.  
  
"I'll explain later, right now we need to focus on, whatever that thing is!" exclaimed Sasha, firing all of the bullets in her clip. Curiously, Sasha noticed that these Guardians were a lot more fragile than the others, despite looking identical. The accelerated growth must've messed something up along the way… _A fair trade off,_ Sasha mused.  
  
"Hey, uh you got anything that I can use? I used all the bullets in my handgun," Fiona asked, flicking out her pistol. All 3 chassis were empty, unlit due to the lack of bullets. She should probably get it upgraded at some point, but right now, she had to focus on getting out of the vault alive.  
  
Sasha paused briefly to reload, and pulled out the Tediore gun she'd carried just in case. _It's not really my go-to gun, but it's an excellent backup weapon,_ Sasha recalled her thoughts from earlier. And to think that she'd been on the brink of death a few hours ago, only to be faced with another life-or-death situation.  
  
"Here, take this!" Sasha shouted, tossing her older sibling the Tediore pistol. She had no time to explain what the gun did, having to resume the hail of bullets she fired towards the Opha and their minions a few seconds ago. Through the corner of her eye, she could see her sister test the weight of the gun, before smiling faintly.  
  
It was sure to be heavier than most Tediore pistols, due to its special effect of having twice the magazine size of its common counterparts, allowing for the thrown gun to do massive amounts of damage. Fiona fired an experimental bullet, surprised by the large amount of recoil, unusual for Tediore pistols. Firing in a similar fashion to Jakobs pistols, with strong one-shot potential, and a higher kick-back, the Tediore legendary's main damage output came from the throw-reloads. Though what made the gun special was its ability to have a chance to shoot a digistructed throw-reload, instead of a bullet.  
  
"Sasha, you focus on taking out the minions, I'll try and get rid of the huge, freaky one," Fiona ordered, almost immediately regretting the words that came out of her mouth.

Standing before the Opha Superior, it was a lot bigger than she'd originally imagined. Gulping harshly, she lifted up her gun, and put in her best game face. She was unsure where exactly to aim, but figured its critical spots were probably its head, and the weird blooming section of the Opha's lower body. Fiona lined up the shot with ease, the Opha Superior having to stand mostly still in order to continue spawning their children. Prepared for the kickback this time, Fiona fired a shot at the Opha's faceplate (mask...thing? Fiona wasn't quite sure).  
  
The Opha screamed in pain, dropping the Putti in their hands, forcing them to spawn as regular Putti rather as Guardians. The Superior turned to face Fiona completely, giving up their task of hurling Guardians at Sasha, giving her sister a small amount of breathing room. Fiona, however, now had to deal with an aggravated Guardian. The Opha lifted up their staff, and started chanting in a foreign language. The words caused a stream of magic to accumulate atop the staff, now glowing with a bright ball of purple energy.

Fiona had to time her next shot properly, to ensure that the Guardian would miss their shot. The two shared similar plans, and were now faced with a predicament. Draw too soon, and miss your shot, or draw too slow, and end up getting hit by your opponent. The Opha moved first, aiming the pulsating ball of energy towards Fiona. The staff had to charge a shot of that magnitude, the split second giving Fiona time to send a bullet flying into the Opha's shoulder.  
  
The Opha recoiled backwards, grabbing their shoulder angrily. Ditching the magic completely, the Opha charged towards Fiona, moving to taking advantage of the size difference. In an attempt to slow the Guardian, Fiona fired a myriad of bullets at their legs, only for them to ricochet back.  
  
"Oh, shit. Not good, not good," Fiona muttered, the bullets she fired flying back towards her. Most of the bullets buried themselves in the ground around her, but one neatly lodged itself in her upper thigh. Fiona grit her teeth, struggling to regain her composure. The Guardian did not give Fiona any time to recover, slamming into her with full force. Deja vu, much? Fiona thought, before a burst of pain flooded her mind, and her body.  
  
"Fiona!" Sasha exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. White hot anger filled Sasha's body, as she cried out in anger. Sasha made quick work of the remaining Guardian's, hitting the last one with such force that it lay limp on the ground. Sasha sprinted towards the other end of the core, where her sister lay crippled on the ground. Sasha extended her hand to her injured sibling, and with a grunt of effort, pulled her back onto her feet.  
  
Fiona's legs wobbled, too sore and exhausted to support all of her weight. Sasha slung her sister's arm around her body, lending Fiona a bit of her strength. The Opha Superior loomed over the two sisters menacingly. Sasha hesitantly lifted her SMG, the gun suddenly feeling twice as small when aimed at the Opha. When Sasha's squeezed the trigger, the gun clicked. She was out of ammo.  
  
\--  
  
Answering Rhys' call, Zer0 activated Decepti0n, shrouding themselves in an invisible cloak. When the clone vanished, Zer0 appeared behind Rhys, and tapped the brunet on the shoulder to get his attention. Rhys jumped slightly, startled by the assassin's appearance seemingly out of nowhere, earning him a questioning from Zer0. Rhys composed himself before turning to face the vault hunter.  
  
"You mentioned a plan?" Zer0 asked, a question mark popping up on their mask. Rhys nodded proudly, and the assassin prompted him to continue.  
  
"As I'm sure you've noticed, the regenerative abilities of this particular Guardian is extremely powerful, meaning it is difficult to damage it through ordinary means," Rhys explained as calmly as he could, his nerves still shaken from his fight a few minutes ago.

With nothing to distract it, the badass was still a present threat in the room, and directed their minions towards where the pair stood. Before the smaller Guardians could cause any harm to Rhys, the assassin slashed the arm off of the closest one, before lifting him up and out of harm's way. The arm would regenerate in a matter of seconds, meaning the two had very little time to waste. Zer0 deployed their clone away from the two, and dragged Rhys behind a pile of crumbled material, having been blasted out by the badass itself.  
  
"Explain it quickly, there is/No time to waste Rhys," the assassin urged, their Decepti0n clone would not last very long. Zer0 could sacrifice the cloaking to make room for the clone to have a longer lifetime, but only by an extra 5 seconds.  
  
"Right, okay. We're going to need slag weapon, and an incendiary gun of some sort, preferably one with long range." Rhys instructed, as the vault hunter proceeded to pull out a slag pistol, and a Maliwan Snider. A piece of the ceiling collapsed, crashing into the ground beside him. The badass was growing impatient with the clone, time was running out.  
  
"In order to stop their regeneration, we have to sever the link that connects the minions to the Guardian," Rhys continued, the assassin nodding in acknowledgement. They had tried to cut earlier, but it would simply grow back.  
  
"That's the first part. Second, we need to be doing enough damage so that the regeneration is useless. The slag and fire combination will help with that." Rhys elaborated. Zer0's clone started to flicker, Rhys only had a few more seconds to finish explaining.  
  
"After that, the badass will the powerless. I'm hoping so, anyways." Rhys finished. He'd sounded a lot more confident in his plan at the beginning, but now he was worried about whether or not it will actually work.  
  
"Let's get started then./I will sever the link, while/You slag them." Zer0 offered, handing Rhys the slag pistol. It had quite a high chance to slag, they were sure it would get the job done in less than 3 shots.  
  
Zer0's touch lingered on Rhys hand, as they stared at his face. Rhys wondered what was on the assassin's mind, the faceplate effectively masking whatever emotion Zer0 was feeling at the moment. Rhys smiled gently, placing his hand on the vault hunter's gloved hand, and took the gun from their hand. The assassin gave Rhys one good look, and hopped over their makeshift cover, deploying their Decepti0n clone on the other side. Rhys peeked his head up, preparing for the first link to be hacked off. Aiming down the sights, Rhys lined up the shot to hit the body, hopefully coating the entire minion in slag. There was a faint reflection of light, indicating the location of the assassin. Zer0 swept their sword downwards, neatly slicing the tether in two. They quickly re-activated their stealth, retreating to a more optimal position for sniping. Rhys was standing up fully now, firing one, two, and three shots, coating the Guardian in slag.  
  
"Now, Zer0!" Rhys shouted, but the skillful sniper had already fired their shot, piercing the Guardian clean through its head. The bullet set the Guardian aflame, burning to mere ashes in a matter of seconds. The badass cried out in confusion, commanding the remaining minions to kill Rhys. They were yanked back abruptly, pulled into a singularity grenade that the assassin threw. Noticing a perfect chance to line a B0re shot up, Zer0 reactivated their stealth, and readied themselves for the perfect moment to snipe the group.  
  
Rhys quickly pieced together what the vault hunter was planning to do, and prepared himself to coat the group of Eridians in slag. The grenade detonated and blasted off the links, dazing the group, and the badass. Each time a tether was sliced, the Guardian would flinch for a few moments, however, severing all the ties at once would stun it instead. The pair worked like a well oiled machine, practically in sync with each other on the field. Rhys fired the slag weapon; getting lucky, the splash damage managed to coat the entire group at once.

Seizing the moment, Zer0 pulled the trigger on their Snider rifle. With a single bullet, the entire cluster of Eridian minions were lit ablaze, their combined corpses leaving behind a large pile of ash. With no minions to protect them, the badass Guardian was left vulnerable. Switching back to the Maggie, Rhys figured it would be best if he drew the attention of the badass away from Zer0, to give them time to execute the large Guardian.  
  
As if they read the brunet's mind, Zer0 swiftly moved into position behind the Guardian. They allowed the businessman to be focused by the badass, trusting him to fine on his own. The assassin found their way onto the badass Guardian's head, impaling the badass through the top of its head. The Eridian let out one last howl of pain, as Zer0 leapt off, landing smoothly on their feet.  
  
"Hell yeah! Now that's what I call teamwork!" Rhys cried happily, throwing his arms up into the air. The action caused pain to shoot through his ribs, as his happy cheer slowly died off into a groan of pain.  
  
Zer0 was at Rhys' side almost immediately, concerned for his wellbeing. Even from afar, they could tell Rhys was looking a little worse for wear. Zer0 approached the brunet slowly, placing a hand on his shoulder. Expecting Rhys to flinch away from the touch, the assassin withdrew their hand. They were surprised to find the exact opposite happening, as Rhys leaned into their touch.  Unable to stop their curiosity, Zer0 let their eyes wander down to Rhys’ exposed collarbone, slowly tracing the tattoos, intrigued by the swirling blue patterns. The skin was surprisingly smooth, and free of any scars. Zer0 peered at Rhys’ neck curiously, watching as the skin slowly flushed red at their touch.   

Rhys sighed at the touch, appreciating how gentle their fingers were. Their hand trailed up Rhys' neck, and brushed away the stray hairs from Rhys’ once perfect hairdo,"Excellent job, Rhys," the assassin praised gently, "We make quite the kickass team./Let's do that again."  
  
His heart fluttered at the promise of getting to work with his favourite vault hunter again. Rhys closed his eyes, humming contentedly. He let the assassin's gentle words of praise was over his body, soothing him with ease.  
  
"Are you hurt at all?" Zer0 asked, obviously concerned. When Rhys nodded, the assassin continued, "Where are you hurt, Rhys? Tell me,"  
  
"One of the bastards nicked my shoulder, s'not bad. Ribs too. Bruised, I think? Maybe fractured, I hope not..." Rhys said raggedly, taking shallow breathes to avoid further irritating his injured rib cage.  
  
Zer0 looked at Rhys' shoulder, and was surprised to find it stained red with blood, most of the fabric torn to shreds by the Guardian's claws. The cut was far from "not bad". The vault hunter expected a shallow cut, instead there was a thin, but deep gash. He'd already lost a fair amount of blood, the assassin assumed, and gently pushed the fabric away to further examine the wound. There was a strange purple lining around the wound, something that the assassin had never seen before. Infection, perhaps? Most likely not, this was a unique cut for sure.  
  
The tall vault hunter pulled out a small medkit, retrieving bandages, and antiseptic from its contents. Ever since the _incident_ , Maya forced all of the vault hunters to carry a medkit in case she is not there to heal the members. The last thing she needed were four, dazed vault hunters to stumble into Sanctuary, on the brink of death like last time. The assassin shook their head at the memory, refocusing on tending to Rhys' injuries.

Disinfecting, and wrapping up wounds was something Zer0 was accustomed to, having done so many times in the past. They were never too good at fixing _other_ people up, but their nimble fingers allowed their touch to be gentle when needed. Stitching the wound up was another problem, but the assassin was determined to fix their fragile companion. Extracting a small cloth from the kit, Zer0 dosed the fabric with a healthy amount of the disinfecting liquid.  
  
"...This might sting a bit," Zer0 warned softly, waiting for Rhys to nod his head before delicately draping the antiseptic soaked cloth on his wound. The brunet hissed at the stinging sensation, urging the assassin to hurry up. They gently dabbed the cloth along the wound, taking extra care to clean out the peculiar purple lining. Once the wound was sufficiently cleaned, Zer0 withdrew a small spool of thread, and a needle.  
  
"I will need you to stay still./I am almost done," Zer0 soothed, rubbing circles into Rhys hand. Rhys was shocked by how careful the assassin was being, their touch almost...tender.  
  
Threading the needle was no challenge for the vault hunter, precise actions was their forté after all. Tying a neat little knot, just like Maya instructed all those years ago, Zer0 prepared to sew the cut shut. Rhys whimpered softly as they were stitching his wound together, the broken sound tugging at the assassin's heartstrings. Such signs of weakness in any other human being would make them recoil in disgust. Cowardly. But Zer0 did not see Rhys as a pitiful person, instead seeing his injured state brought out a side of the assassin they did not know was there.

They felt a strong urge to care for the brunet, protect him, and most of all wipe the sad look off his face. These feelings were alien to them, unlike anything else they'd ever felt. Zer0 did not see the other vault hunters like this either, only seeing them as strong willed people, who deserved their respect and loyalty. Rhys however, deserved much, much more in the assassin's mind. What exactly, they were not sure. Hopefully they'd figure it out, that or they could ask someone more...experienced with such things.

Their patchwork was far from perfect, but it did its job well enough. Zer0 made a mental note to properly learn how to take care of wounds, should a scenario like this would happen again. The only part left to do was bandage Rhys' injury. The vault hunter retrieved the roll of gauze from their first aid kit, and slowly lifted Rhys' arm up, to make room for them to wrap the bandage.

Rhys watched idly as the assassin tended to his wound, smiling softly at how kind they were being. This was the fourth time Zer0 had helped Rhys today, of which three involved saving his ass. Rhys wasn't sure why the assassin was going out of their way to help him--not that he minded, no, it was far from that. It was a nice feeling, Rhys found. Having someone look out for you.  
  
"There. That should be it," said Zer0, smoothing out the gauze. The bleeding had stopped completely now, much to their relief. They did not have anything to fix Rhys' broken ribs in the medkit they carried. Zer0 stared intently at the small container in their hands, an ellipses "..." flashing briefly on their faceplate.  
  
"If you're looking for something to take care of my ribs, I promise you that I'm okay. You've done enough for me." Rhys smiled. It's a strange feeling really, to be cared for by someone you've always looked up to (and admittedly had a _teensy_ crush on). Not that Rhys thought Zer0 was a total badass (with a lovely butt), or that he found such warmth and safety in being held in their arms or anything. Okay, perhaps his crush ran a lot deeper than he'd originally thought.  
  
Rhys' attention was brought back to focus on watching the vault hunter give up on rummaging around their tiny medkit, instead pulling out a large health hypo. It was an oversized needle (needlessly so, Rhys thought), filled with a bright, red fluid. The company man gulped, clearly wary of the needle's size.  
  
"It does not hurt as/Much as it looks like it will./This should ease the pain." Zer0 reassured, catching onto Rhys' anxiety very quickly. For someone who showed rather limited amounts of emotion (with a few exceptions), they prided themselves in being excellent at reading body language. Rhys stared intently at the hypo, contemplating whether or not to go through with it, before finally sighing. Surely trusting the experienced vault hunter was better than not believing them.    
  
"A-alright, go for it. I guess," Rhys said, closing his eyes shut, not wanting to see the dauntingly large metal needle go in.  True to their words, Rhys only felt the needle for less than a second. That said, it felt like he was being impaled by a knife, for sure. The sharp pain was promptly replaced by an almost euphoric sensation, as the healing agent kicked in. Rhys was unaware of how sore he was, the dull pain in his body a constant reminder that he was hurt. He could move a little more freely now, no longer in great amounts of duress.  
  
"This won't fix your ribs./But it will speed up the process/And keep you going." explained the assassin, tossing the emptied health hypo aside. Silence fell between the two, both lost in their respective thoughts of the other person. The sound of a sliding mechanism startled the pair, as they turned their attention towards the source of the disturbance. The door that had shut itself earlier on finally opened, once they'd cleared the entire room. On the other side, Sasha and Fiona were backed into a corner.  
  
\--  
  
"Damnit, I'm empty! What the hell am I supposed to do now?" Sasha yelled exasperatedly. Fiona was in no shape to shoot a gun, the one Sasha gave her earlier not within arms reach.

The Opha Superior retrieved their staff with a simple snap of their fingers, flying back to their side instantly. With a murderous aura, the Opha lifted their staff well above their head, ready to crush the two sisters. Sasha reached over, and grabbed hold of Fiona's hand. The two shut their eyes, accepting defeat. A distorted yelp grabbed the siblings' attention, snapping their heads up to meet the eyes of the Opha in front of them. The end of a cobalt blue blade stuck out of the Guardian's shoulder, purple ooze flowing from the entry point of the sword. With a wet squelching sound, the blade was pulled out, followed by the thud of the wielder's feet impacting the ground.  
  
"Rhys!" shouted Zer0, signalling Rhys to follow up their attack. Rhys replied by moving into position, a firm grip on the Maggie in his hands, his posture just as Zer0 instructed a while back. The Superior turned to face the duo, a reignited fury in their mind. In the few moments they had before springing into action, they'd exchanged a few words, detailing their plan of attack. Zer0 was going to play distraction/stagger duty, aiming for the Eridian's joints. While this is going on, Rhys was to unload as many bullets into the Opha Superior's stomach as he could fire. The pair would repeat this process until the Guardian can no longer stand.  
  
"I-Is that Rhys and Zer0?" asked Fiona with a shaky voice, gripping her upper thigh in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Sasha nodded dumbly, before realizing that it was foolish to simply stand and watch as Rhys and Zer0 took care of the murderous Guardian. Sasha turned to face her sister, gently lowering her onto the ground.  
  
"Wait, what're you doing?" Fiona questioned, allowing herself to be placed on the ground despite her words.  
  
"Stay here. I'm not hurt. No point being complacent. I'm going to try do what I can to help those two nut-cases." Sasha replied hurriedly, rushing over to the once abandoned Tediore pistol. Fiona watched helplessly, as her sister charged into the battle field.  
  
Sasha sprinted to join Rhys' side, hastily asking him what the plan was. He did not answer, preoccupied with dealing as much damage as he could in the small window of time he had. Sasha, however, was clever enough to figure out what was going on, readying herself to join Rhys the next round. Already, the Guardian's movements were starting to falter, the two siblings having done quite a number on the Opha Superior. The assassin strafed around the Eridian, staying barely within reach of the gnarly looking claws. The Guardian yelled in frustration, wanting to catch the slippery vault hunter at any cost.  
  
Zer0 suddenly stood still, turning to face the rapidly approaching badass. Taunting the Guardian with a small tilt of their head, a brief "(:" projected from their mask. The Opha swooped down, reaching to grab the assassin, and crush them in their hands. Cackling maniacally, their hands swiftly closed around the vault hunter's slim figure, only to find that their hands were devoid of the assassin's body. The a Superior let out a stream of confused noises, scanning the room for the grey and red cladded vault hunter.

The assassin made their appearance once more, this time perched gracefully on the Guardian's right shoulder. Upon realizing this, the Eridian tried to swat them away, but was too late. Zer0 drove their blade straight down, staggering the Opha as they tried to retaliate. The Guardian swung their hands at them, desperately trying to get the assassin off, and away from their weak points. Zer0 was long gone, however, already back on the ground with their companions, Jakobs sniper in hand. The trio unleashed a flurry of bullets, emptying clip, after clip into the crippled Eridian.  Moments later, the Guardian fell over, unable to stand.

They hit the ground with a heavy thud, rumbling the floor below. Rhys let out a cry of victory, with less restraint than the last one. Broken ribs or not, Rhys was pretty damn proud of what he, Zer0 (mostly Zer0), and Sasha completed. Rhys turned to the assassin, wanting nothing more than to hug them, but opted for a fist bump instead. It took the assassin a moment to figure it out, but eventually bumped their fist against Rhys', even going as far as mimicking the faux "explosion" afterwards.

Rhys lit up, and they could’ve swore that even the sun couldn’t compete with the brilliance Rhys seemed to radiate in that moment. Seeing the brunet like that warmed Zer0's insides, smiling under their mask to match Rhys'. Reflecting the vault hunter's emotion, their mask projected a bright red ":D". Sasha looked at the pair bemusedly, having already figured out what was going on between the two.  
  
"So uh, anyone want to give me a hand here?" Fiona asked weakly from her spot on the ground. Zer0 let go of their gaze on Rhys, shifting their focus to the injured Fiona. They walked over to the ex-con artist, closing the gap with a few long strides, with Sasha and Rhys following suit. The assassin was standing over her now, extending their gloved hand towards Fiona. Grabbing hold of their hand, Fiona struggled to pull herself up. She should've been more careful with where she aimed her gun, Fiona scolded herself. Offering their help, Zer0's strength guided Fiona to her feet with ease.  
  
Rhys couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy watching Zer0 lend Fiona her aid. It was petty, of course. They were only trying to help, Rhys hoped so, anyways. The ex-con artist must've said something funny, as Zer0 was now chuckling. Rhys flushed angrily, not wanting to watch the two anymore. Sasha must've noticed, as she too, was now giggling.  
  
"Feeling a little jealous there, huh lover boy? Don't worry, I'm sure your pasty ass is the only one they're interested in." Sasha teased, playfully nudging Rhys' elbow. It was so painfully obvious to Sasha, their little dance around each other was nothing short of amusing to her.  
  
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about." Rhys denied, turning his face away from his snickering friend. Even if he turned his face away, Rhys still wore his heart on his sleeve, Sasha chuckled.  
  
"If you're so curious to find out what Fiona said, you can ask 'em yourself." Sasha suggested.  
  
"Wait, you heard?" cried Rhys.  
  
"You didn't?" Sasha countered, "Man, you're in deep aren't you?"  
  
"S-Shut up," Rhys muttered.  
  
"Relax, Rhys. Fi said something about how you blush too often for your own good, what Zer0 said in return is up to you to ask." Sasha winked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Rhys pouted slightly at the comment, hands reaching up to touch his cheeks, _I don't blush that often, right?_    
  
Fiona was finally on her feet, albeit unsteady, but otherwise grounded. Sasha and Rhys had finally caught up, forming a complete group. Fiona was able to limp slowly with the help of someone else, which Sasha gladly did (knowing that Rhys would prefer it that way). The group took this moment of peace to reassess, and decide on their next plan of action. Sasha still needed to find the "ancient Eridian artifact" that Dr. Tannis wanted, meaning the only place to go was forward. Though the way back was sealed, an entrance opened up ahead, leading to yet another long hallway. With a small groan, the rag tag crew proceeded onwards, into unknown territory once more.  
  
The elaborate architecture of the previous rooms were nothing compared to the grandeur of the next area. A crystal dome encased the room, flourished with the same hexagonal pattern. The walls were a metallic purple and blue, reflecting the light differently depending on how one looked at it. Located in the middle was a familiar looking pillar of light, almost identical to the one the group had encountered earlier on. Atop the pedestal in front of the beacon hovered a black cube, accented by bright purple streaks, Eridian writings scrawled on every square inch. From within the purple streaks, thin wisps of light emerged, as if it contained a fragment of the beacon it rested before.

The cube rotated its pattern every now and then, shifting around, before settling down. Leading to the beacon was yet another staircase, twice as large as the one in the entrance of the vault. Figuring it was the only place to go, they began their descent, mindful of where they stepped. Sasha, Rhys, and Fiona marvelled at the sight in front of them, taking it all in. Zer0 however, noticeably tensed up, their hand moving to grip their sheathed sword.  Falling behind, the two siblings chatted eagerly, recounting their respective stories prior to reuniting with each other. Rhys stared at the vault hunter curiously, wondering what they were so concerned about.  
  
"Is there something wrong, Zer0?"  
  
"...It is nothing Rhys." was the assassin's reply. For whatever reason, they were more distant than usual, and Rhys determined to find out.  
  
"I highly doubt that," Rhys huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. It's not like they didn't trust him, right?  
  
Zer0 was twice as hesitant in their response, carefully choosing their words, "It's best that you do not know."  
  
"Whatever it is, I'm sure you can tell me. It's not like I'm going to judge you or anything." Rhys shrugged.  
  
"You will find out soon."  
  
Rhys decided to stop pushing the subject then, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs. The cube shaped object was a lot larger up close, having about the same size as the average human head.  
  
"That's probably the artifact Dr. Tannis was talking about." Sasha said, walking up close to the object in question. Fiona, who had her arm slung around her younger sibling, nodded in agreement. How she was going to carry the artifact, and support her sister, Sasha wasn't too sure. She'd only hoped that it was light enough to be carried with one hand. She was hesitant in touching it however, unsure if it was truly wise to, all things considered. For a moment, she even contemplated radioing Dr. Tannis to confirm if she was looking at the right thing. When she heard nothing but static from her ECHOcom, Sasha strapped it back onto her belt with a sigh. A deal is a deal, after all.  
  
"You uh, you sure about this Sash?"  Fiona asked warily, her grip tightening around her sister's shoulder.  
  
"As sure as I'll ever be." grumbled Sasha. Still holding onto her sister, she reached out to grab the Eridian artifact. She expected it to come off easily, seeing as it wasn't being held by anything, no strings, no locks, nothing. And yet, the object refused to move. Fiona was now lending her strength, trying to pull the artifact loose.  
  
"I don't think that's wise." Zer0 commented, tension clear in their tone of voice.

Perhaps there was something needed to be done before one could remove the cube from it's pedestal, Rhys pondered. He couldn't help but feel as if the assassin knew more about the vault than the others may have believed. Question after question filled his head, each one causing his head to spin more than the last. Rhys had many speculations, and none that he could rule out. Was Zer0 really human? Rhys furrowed his brows, considering the idea. Would it change things between them? As if there was anything to begin with, Rhys scoffed. Deep down, he hoped that nothing would change either way. His questions would be answered shortly. Zer0 said so, and they don't seem to be one to lie.  
  
One question of his was promptly answered, when the cube was suddenly freed from its pedestal, sending the two siblings onto their backs. The artifact could be removed, which meant that was one less thing to worry about. There was however, a _slight_ complication. The cavernous room began to shake violently, with such force that several chunks of the ceiling broke loose, crashing into the ground left and right.

“It is far too soon...” the assassin said grimly, seemingly unphased by the crumbling structure, and instead was concerned about something...bigger. A larger threat. They turned to face the two siblings, who were scrambling to get back onto their feet.

“You three need to leave. Hurry,” Zer0 instructed, much to the trio’s confusion. Sasha figured it out first, glancing at the artifact she held in her hands, and back at the lean vault hunter.

“And how exactly do you expect us to do that?!” Fiona cried exasperatedly, asking the question that was on all of their minds. As they spoke, more and more of the vault began to crumble, _almost_ crushing the group several times. Despite everything that was going on, Rhys remained observant of his surroundings. Strange how nothing has hit the group yet, despite the fact that the entire damn thing was falling apart. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that they were standing in the very centre of the grand room, and the ceiling above them was the only part strong enough to withstand the force of the tremors. _Why is that?_

Rhys furrowed his brows, determined to figure out the puzzle that was the Vault of the Traveller. He soon discovered that the broken fragments gave way to a newer, more pristine backing. Like a boiled egg shedding its shell, there was something hidden underneath...something that glowed brighter than the beacon of light in the centre. With each quake, the light beneath the worn down material pulsated. For whatever reason, he was sure that the tremors were caused by something other than an earthquake. It felt like something was _moving._ Rhys couldn’t shake the eerie feeling off.

“Sanctuary, now!” Zer0 shouted, panic evident in their voice. Whatever was happening, it must’ve been bad.

Not once in their entire encounter did Rhys hear them speak with such great distress. The thought did little to calm his nerves. He found himself feeling very distracted, as if blanket of fog draped itself over his mind, reducing everything to nothing but a misty haze. His breathing grew shallow, as the wound in his shoulder began to hurt once more. The pain grew in intensity, waves of agony ebbing in and out of the his mind, almost in sync with the pulsating lights in the room. It _had_ to be connected: the vault, and Zer0. _But how, how, how?_

There was a blinding flash of light, followed by cries of confusion from both Sasha, and Fiona. Even through his daze, he could tell that there was great distress in the siblings’ voice. Within the next few moments they were gone, and along with them, the artifact. Things were very, very bad. At least they were somewhere safe, most likely back at Sanctuary already, Rhys sighed with relief. He on the other hand, was still stuck in the collapsing vault, with near blackout amounts of pain.

“Rhys? Why are you here?/You were supposed to go with/Them. This is not good…” muttered the vault hunter, hurrying to Rhys’ side. They needed to get him out of here, before _they_ showed up. Zer0 feared it was too late, however, the last bit of decayed material finally shedding itself from the walls of the vault.  Dread filled their body, already preparing themselves for what was coming next. The assassin eased Rhys into a sitting position, deciding that it would be better than standing. They moved to stand in front of the injured brunet, unsheathing their sword.

The ground continued to rumble with increasing intensity, as something dug its way up to the surface. Zer0’s grip around their blade grew even tighter, their hand shaking ever so slightly. The room suddenly stilled, growing eerily silent, a stunning contrast to the constant shaking. The beacon of light dimmed, ceasing to glow. Without a moment’s notice, a large Guardian erupted from where the beacon once was, spiralling high into the room. The slowed at the peak of their flight, a broad pair of insectoid wings sprouting from its back.

Rhys stared at it with wide eyes, a white hot pain ripping through his body the moment he made eye contact. He let out a strangled cry, trying his best to muffle it. He regretted the action almost instantly, now reduced to a whimpering mess. Zer0 felt their heart squeeze at seeing the brunet in such great pain. Worse even, they could not do anything to help, not until the bigger threat was dealt with. They lifted their head to face the oncoming Eridian.

“ _Who dares to wake me?_ ” they spoke in a foreign language, Rhys finding himself unable to comprehend what they’d just said. Zer0 seemed to understand, as they flinched rather visibly. Despite his constant state of pain, he still found himself concerned for the assassin. He’d never seen them so afraid; nothing seemed to phase them, not even the badass Guardian they’d killed earlier. So then why were they so nervous now?

“Zer0, who-- _what_ is that thing?” Rhys asked hoarsely. Although sharing similar physical features, Rhys could tell that there was something _different_ with this particular Guardian. There was a certain, aura of authority that emanated from them, causing him to bow his head. That, and eye contact was coupled with pain, so he dared not to face the Guardian again.

“That’s...the _queen_ of sorts./The queen bee to a hive, or/In this case, the vault.” Zer0 replied uneasily.

In that very moment, Rhys had an epiphany then, the previous events suddenly making sense: the way they were able to translate the Eridian writing carved into the wall, how they’d seemingly understood what the Opha Superior said when Fiona was in danger, or how they knew what the artifact did. But most importantly of all, why they were suddenly tense the moment the large Guardian appeared. Zer0...was an Eridian? Rhys did not find himself feeling surprised, nor did he find himself disgusted. For some reason, the fact did not bother him. He was relieved, rather--relieved to find that nothing in him had changed. 

The assassin’s knees began to wobble, as the “queen” grew closer to the ground. It was not normal for them to be defying an authoritative figure, but they held on. The queen was standing right in front of the pair now. Zer0 felt their resolve slowly crumble under the scrutinizing gaze of someone with far greater ranking than them. They slowly lowered their head, unable to keep their attention focused on the Guardian. Sooner or later, their legs would follow.

“ _Zer0. How kind of/You to visit me, it has/Been a while, no?_ ” the Guardian purred, their voice filling both Rhys’ and Zer0’s head. A strange sensation, it was. It felt like the Guardian was speaking directly into their mind, rather than out loud. Rhys found himself confused as ever, unable to understand the strange dialect.

When the assassin did not reply, the queen let out a displeased sound, “ _How dare you. Don’t you/Know how to treat a **queen** , now?/Kneel before me._”

They could resist the instinct to submit well enough, having done plenty of resisting in their earlier life. However, it would be physically impossible to resist a direct order .Zer0 crumpled to the ground, almost immediately. Zer0 found themselves reluctant with their compliance, angered at the way their body betrayed them.

“ _That’s better. How have/You been my child? I see/You have brought a guest._ ” the queen spoke, turning to face Rhys’ limp form. When they took a step forward, Zer0 moved to block them. Still on their knees, they raised the sword, pointing it  directly at the monarch’s chest.

“ _You will **not** touch them,_ ” Zer0 said shakily, replying in the same tongue that the monarch spoke in. They tried their best to still their trembles, succeeding ever so slightly, holding a solid grip on their blade.

“ _Oh? Defiant as/Ever, I see. Not much has/Changed since your dad’s death._ ” the empress spat out, looking at Zer0 with great disdain. The queen was surprised to find that their words did little to shake the vault hunter, taking a step back as Zer0 had started to stand up. They were determined to protect Rhys, lest their...alien background cause more troubles for the brunet than it already has.

“ _How...interesting./This resistance, it must be/Human influence.”_ the Guardian mused, peering curiously at Rhys, before facing the lean vault hunter once more. Zer0 was standing up completely now, their blade threatening to pierce the monarch’s chest. No matter how hard they willed the sword to move forward, their arms did nothing but stay still.

“ _Tell me, what does/This human mean to you, hm?_ ” inquired the queen.

“ _I...am not quite sure./I am unfamiliar/With the strange feeling._ ” replied the assassin honestly. Ever since they’d met Rhys way back when, it has been a large mix of complicated things.

The teasing, and flirting was to be expected, hell they’d even flirted with Axton the odd time here and there. Everything else? Not so much. The desire to further acquaint themselves with the man, the urge to protect and care for him, and perhaps the strangest thing of all, was the surge of affection that hit them every time Rhys smiled. All of which, were feelings that Zer0 was unaccustomed to, never having met someone who had such an effect on them. Perhaps it was they way were raised. They knew nothing but how to murder, being raised into the mindset of a ruthless killer--and killers did not need such emotions.

“ _You know what it is/Don’t you? You do not want to/Admit it, is all._ ” commented the queen, “ _It has been a long/Time since I have felt that way._ ”

Zer0 remained silent, mulling over the queen’s words. As if they weren’t uncertain enough, they were now twice as confused, a mess of thoughts swirling in their head. They couldn’t help but feel slightly selfish; here they were, having an existential crisis, all the while Rhys lay crumped on the floor, no doubt enduring a dreadful amount of pain. The vault hunter wanted to be by his side, but that was not an option. If they dared to move even an inch, they would lose position and be unable to stand back up. Once there was an opening, they would drive their blade straight into the monarch’s chest, and get the hell out of the vault.

“I-I’m fine, Zer0…I’m gonna be okay,” croaked Rhys from behind the assassin. They were startled by this, but otherwise grateful to hear the words. Good, Rhys was still alive and kicking. They would never forgive themselves if he was anything but. He was still in great distress, meaning Zer0 was not completely satisfied. The blade in Zer0’s hand inched slightly closer to the queen’s chest, the tip now touching the armour that they wore. 

“ _Then I shall say it./It’s clear in the way you act./You care for him, yes?”_

Zer0 nodded their head sluggishly, unable to lie to the queen. Satisfied with the response, the monarch continued, “ _Perhaps then, it is love.”_

Love. A concept that the assassin once believed to be nothing short of trivializing. So then why, _why_ did the word resonate so strongly within them? Was it wrong for them to experience such a thing? Their younger self would answer yes, it would only serve to cloud their judgment. They’d felt genuine happiness every time they’d interacted with Rhys, and they failed to see why it was such a bad thing. Zer0 could feel the intimidating aura around the monarch falter, as they finally regained some of their will to move. They pressed the sword into the queen’s chest, the armour already beginning to crack as the tip pressed its way in.

“... _Perhaps it is. Though/It may be too soon to tell./Forgive me for this._ ” Zer0 said quietly, finally breaking through the armour. Their sword impaled the queen with a disgusting sound, blood flowing freely through the cracks in the armour. Piercing through the queen was a slow, and difficult process, as Zer0 struggled to resist the urge to withdraw their blade. The royal Guardian ceased to fight back, allowing the sword to impale them completely.

The monarch chuckled darkly, coughing up blood, “ _I...I could never hurt you. You./My **son** \--_”

With great force, Zer0 withdrew their blade from the queen’s chest, blood dripping from the tip of their blade. They took a deep breath, their heart feeling heavy in their chest. Many kills came with either disappointment, or satisfaction. But _never_ sadness. They stared at their deceased mother’s corpse, watching as it fragments of it flew away, before disappearing into nothingness. Rhys coughed painfully, instantly grabbing the assassin’s attention, as they hurried to Rhys’ side. The vault hunter lifted Rhys up, placing him gently into their lap. They started to speak, but was cut off by Rhys, “You don’t have to explain right now. Not if you don’t want to, I understand.”

The tall vault hunter nodded, grateful for his understanding. There was a strange calm then, all previous conflicts having been resolved. Now, there was nothing left to disturb the pair. They were alone, in the vast emptiness of the vault. It was oddly peaceful. With a hesitant hand, they reached up to brush their fingers through Rhys’ hair. Slowly at first, waiting to see his reaction. When the brunet sighed contentedly, the continued, gradually beginning to untangle the knots that had bundled themselves in the company man’s hair. The two stayed like that for a long while, simply enjoying the other’s presence.

Through the serenity of the moment, Rhys almost forgot one thing. His wound didn’t hurt anymore. Seeing how the presence of large Guardians caused it to hurt, it was most likely tied to his proximity to the one who gave him the wound, and the authoritative Eridian. He only experienced the aftershocks of enduring such agony, now feeling more exhausted and worn out that anything.

He felt his eyelids droop shut, the calming movement of Zer0’s fingers, and the bliss of being alone with the assassin putting him at ease. He wished to rest, but there was one last thing he needed to do. Despite himself, he reopened his eyes, peering straight up at the lean vault hunter’s black mask. They held each other’s gaze for a moment, before Rhys slowly lifted himself up.

“What are you doing?/You’re still hurt--”

“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine with me. But there is something I’d like to tell you.” Rhys said, silencing the assassin, “I wanted to say...thank you.”

Zer0 was slightly taken aback by the expression of gratitude, expecting him to say something negative instead. When Zer0 could not find the proper words to respond,  Rhys found himself smiling. For once, the assassin was the one left speechless, and not him. He pondered his next action for a long while, before deciding _to hell with it_. If Rhys thanking him was unexpected, there was no way the assassin could have prepared themselves for what came next.

They felt a soft pair of lips press themselves against his faceplate. A kiss. _Rhys kissed him_. Their mind blanked, feeling heat rise up their face. Zer0 tried their best to remain calm, their mask, however, gave it all away. Their mask lit up with a solid red colour, slowly colouring the mask from the bottom to the top. How was one supposed to react to that? Zer0 asked themselves mentally, trying to hide the emotion displayed on their faceplate. Rhys giggled in amusement, slowly pulling away.

“Don’t tell me, are you _blushing_?” Rhys said between giggles, only furthering the assassin’s embarrassment. 

“N-no.”

“Oh how the tables have turned!” Rhys cried, throwing his arms around the vault hunter’s slim figure. He looked at them with lovestruck eyes, the corners of his eyes crinkling, “It was a little cold, but I can totally get used to that. Can I do that again?”

Zer0 found themselves nodding. It was a strange feeling, but it was very, very nice. It caused their heart to flutter in ways they’d never imagined, and like Rhys said, they could _absolutely_ get used to it. It would probably be strange to return the favour however, as they’d end up just bonking their mask against Rhys’ delicate face. It was an amusing thought. The second time Rhys kissed him, it felt twice as pleasant. How it was that someone evoked such emotion in them, they did not understand. But perhaps that was the best part of it.

“Have I ever told you...that I really, _really_ like you? Well, I do. I’d like to…” Rhys paused, struggling to find the proper words, “I’d like to do this more often. The whole, _us_ kinda thing. I’m not making sense, am I? I mean, let’s see how do I put this--" 

“Yes.”

“Y-yes?” Rhys echoed, not expecting them to respond so soon. 

“Yes, you dolt.” Zer0 repeated playfully, pulling the brunet in for a hug. They took extra care to not disturb his injured ribs, however.

“That--wow. I’m, I’m. I don’t--” Rhys stuttered dumbly. Sure he’d been the one to make the first move, which took nearly every single bit of courage in his body to do. But _wow_. He didn’t think this far ahead, unsure of what to say next.

“We can talk later./You should rest, for now. I will/Get us out of here.” the assassin cut in, not allowing Rhys to make an even bigger fool of himself. Rhys nodded vigorously, his cheeks tinted a slight rose colour. Similar to before, Zer0 carefully picked Rhys up, supporting him in his arms with ease. The staircase from earlier on now led to the exit, the large arc of the vault symbol resting at the top. Rhys was fast asleep by the time they made it up there, snoring quietly into their chest. Zer0 glanced over their shoulder, taking one last look at the Vault of the Traveller, before stepping into the portal.

\--

“They-they’re coming out, right?”

Sasha wasn’t very sure of how to answer that. She and Fiona have been waiting outside the vault’s entrance for over fifteen minutes. The device had ported them back to Sanctuary as promised, but they were the only ones to return. Swiftly dropping it off at Tannis’ place, Sasha rushed to get Fiona medical attention. Dr. Zed patched her up in record time, much to Sasha’s thankfulness. She needed to go back, and make sure Rhys and Zer0 were alright, running to Scooter’s garage. Fiona had tagged along as well, insisting that if her sister was able to come to her rescue with a broken arm, then she should be able to rescue her friends as well. Thanks to digistruct technology installed in the caravan, they were able to “fast travel” straight into the vehicle.

“I hope so.”

Silence settled between the two siblings once more. The portal remained inactive, acting as nothing more than an empty stone arc. WIth each passing minute, the sisters grew increasingly worried, wondering if Rhys and Zer0 were able to make it out alive. Fiona, who was still under the influence of a variety of anesthetics fell asleep on Sasha’s shoulder, as she stared bleakly at the Vault entrance. She’d begun to give up hope, when the portal suddenly came to life, a large wisp of light enveloping the arcing gate with a purple light. When the light finally settled, Sasha’s eyes widened. Zer0 had stepped out, carrying Rhys in their arms. She stood up suddenly, waking up Fiona with a start.

“He’s not dead, simply/Asleep is all. Do not fret,” Zer0 explained quickly, noticing the panic in the the two siblings’ eyes. Sasha let out a sigh of relief, slowing her pace to walking speed. Zer0 tilted their head amusedly at Sasha’s reaction.

“Do _not_ tell him anything. He will never let me live it down.” Sasha said, squinting her eyes at the tall assassin. They chuckled slightly, pretending to zip their mouth shut. Sasha nodded, satisfied with the promise.

“Get in, I’ll drive.” Sasha instructed. Zer0 nodded, and headed towards the caravan. Once that was said and done, she rushed over to where Fiona was, muttering apologies, “Sorry about that by the way, I was really worried.”

“Yeah, no kidding. It’s cool, I can’t stay mad at you forever, afterall.” Fiona grunted, standing up with her sister’s support. She was able to walk now, but the pain was still there. They were quite a ways away from Sanctuary, and Sasha was the only one fit to drive. Besides Zer0, probably, but they were too busy tending to Rhys’ injuries.

Sasha slid the key into the ignition, starting the caravan with ease. Sometimes, older vehicles took multiple tries to start, but this one had no problem. She made mental note to thank Springs for the vehicle which she had _technically_ stolen. Though really, she just borrowed it without Springs knowing. After making sure her sister was settled comfortably in the passenger seat, and that Zer0 and Rhys were alright in the back, she reversed the car, spinning it to face the desert. She eased the car into a cruising speed, headed straight for Sanctuary’s base location.

 

Zer0 watched Rhys’ peaceful face as he slept. There was still a lot of patchwork that needed to be done, but that would be taken care of when they reached Sanctuary. They soon felt sleep tug at the corner of their mind, their eyelids growing heavier with each passing second. Listening to Rhys’ quiet snores, the eventually let sleep over come them. 

\-- 

When Sasha turned back to inform them that they were at Sanctuary, she was greeted with an adorable sight. Zer0 was lying down on the reclining seat, their arms wrapped around Rhys’ body and their head buried in Rhys’ chest. Somehow, Sasha was unsurprised to find that Zer0 was the big spoon, and Rhys, the little spoon. She didn’t want to ruin the picturesque moment, but upon remembering that Rhys needed medical assistance, she moved to shake the assassin awake. Zer0 woke up the moment Sasha approached them; they were a very light sleeper, after all. 

“Hey. We’re here.”

Zer0 nodded, shaking off the sleep instantly. They wrapped their arms around Rhys’ sleeping form, careful to not wake him, and gently lifted him off of the caravan seat. His hair was all over the place, and his precious business attire was ruined. The assassin smiled fondly at the resting brunet, brushing the stray strands of hair back into place. Sasha didn’t take Zer0 for a lovestruck sap, but she supposed that there were plenty of things she didn’t know about them. Ducking their head slightly, they exited the caravan, and headed towards the Crimson Raiders HQ. They would go to Dr. Zed’s place, but to be frank, they did not trust Zed to treat Rhys with as much care as they wanted, instead trusting Maya to do a better job.

“Oh good, you’re back! The others were starting to get worried, you know?” Dr. Tannis greeted absentmindedly, too invested in tinkering with the Eridian artifact to properly say hello. Zer0 did little to acknowledge her comment, knowing full well that both parties had better things to pay attention to. They climbed up the rickety stone stairs that led to where the vault hunters typically gathered for a mission.

“Great to see you made it back in one piece, Zer0. Sal, Krieg, and Gaige are all out running some errand for Hammerlock, and Maya, whom I assume you’re looking for, is in the next room.” Axton said from the workbench, pointing his hand in the general direction of the blue haired siren. There was no need to take another step, as Maya stepped out from the doorway.

 

“Agreed. There something I can help you with, Zer0?” Maya asked curiously, glancing towards the brunet they held in their arms.

“Yes, he needs healing.” Zer0 responded, moving their head to look at the snoring brunet in their arms.

“Sure, just put him down on the couch and I’ll see what I can do,” said Maya, motioning towards the worn down couch. Zer0 placed Rhys onto the couch as instructed, and stepped back, giving the siren ample room to work. The tattoos on her arms glowed a bright blue, as she channeled her powers into her hands, enveloping Rhys in a similar colour. She worked first on mending his ribs, then his cut on his shoulder. Wiping away a bead of sweat, she beckoned the assassin over.

“He should be good now. I did everything I could, but the rest will have to heal on its own.” Maya said tiredly. She wandered off to get some rest, having used her healing powers for an extended amount of time without break. Zer0 waved goodbye, and wished her a good rest, before refocusing their attention on the brunet. He was fully awake now, smiling goofily at the tall vault hunter. They crouched down, hovering over the couch.

“Feeling better, Rhys?”  When Rhys muttered something that vaguely sounded like yes, they carried on, “I’m glad to hear that. You should/Get some more rest, Rhys.”

Rhys replied by lightly tugging on Zer0’s elbow, inviting them onto the couch with him. With a quick flash of a smiley face “:)”, they set aside the guns that they had slung on their body, settling into the couch with the brunet. Rhys lifted a lone finger towards Zer0’s mask, poking them where their nose would be. Zer0 shook their head, chuckling quietly at the business man’s immaturity. Being with Rhys like this, it was nice. They enjoyed his company, and enjoyed cuddling him even more. They wrapped their arms and legs around the brunet, holding him close. Rhys pressed a soft kiss on Zer0’s mask once more, before drifting off into sleep, the vault hunter following suit.

Now this, they could get used to.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it (: I poured quite a bit of time into writing it afterall.


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